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Monday, December 06, 2004

Hansel and Gretel group presentation

We had such a great group to work with and we had fun. At first I did not have any idea what we were going to do, and then Serena had the brilliant idea of Unsloved Fairy Tales, and a great idea it was. Clint made an excellent "Robert Stack"! We had a great time filming this and it turned out great too. It is hard and imbarrassing to watch yourself on video but it was worth it. I played the witch and I have to say I looked like a bloated bad Joan Crawford, but it was such a hoot ot do her. Everyone did their parts really well and Valerie spent alot of extra time filming and cutting the video. Great Job Valerie. The white trash characters of the mom and dad were probably the best of the show. They were hilarious, I had to leave the room and hide so you could not hear me laughing!
Each presentation was really awesome and everyone did an excellent job, this was fun Dr. Sexson!!!!!

Wednesday, December 01, 2004

Presentations 11-30-04

OH MY GOD! These were amazing! I laughed so hard! Tristian's group's version of "Little Red Riding Hood" was exceptional. Sam was an hilarious and sexual Riding Hood and everyone else was just a hoot. I loved the different twists and think that the creativeness was an extra added benefit. Tristan your mustache was great! The telling of a tale through the Freudian aspect was a wonderful idea as an interjecting type of thing. The wigs and props were all very, very good!

"Snow White and Seven Dwarfs" was extremely inventful as well. Jillian was my absolute favorite, she was so damn funny, it was great. I still giggle when I think about it. Lindsay was a perfect "Snow White", her style of talking and body language made her perfect. Walt of course was good, as was the conceited witch, and the mirror was excellent. Who ever idea it was to do the Prince thing was just great too! Good job guys!

Next, but not least, is the Cinderella presentation. Wow! these girls really new their critics that we read for this class. They did an excellent job of incorporating these ideas into their production. Their whole presenation was very well thought out and presented. They also had good props as well. Terrific!

Well, everyone we go next, tommorrow, and I can only hope that we can do as well. We have some big shoes to fill. This is fun and we will pull it together , we have a great group. Peace Out

Tuesday, November 16, 2004

My dispalced fairy tale-an answer

I was asked by one of the other students from our class today about my displaced fairy tale, she asked me if mine was a true story, I replied yes. I framed my tale after the "Tigers Bride" and it is the true story of the dissapearance of my (now deceased) fiance. Basically, my tale speaks about the last days of his life and how he gambled with it and our futures. I have wanted to write about it for awhile but sometimes it is too painful and other times it is inappropriate, or just to heart wrenching to get in to. However, Sexon's assisignment gave me the opportunity to do something unique and to use a context that was unusual and somewhat disguised. So, there you have it. Cindy

Displaced fairy tales

I really enjoyed reading and hearing everyones fairy tales. They are excellent. We sure have a group of creative and inventive writers in our midsts. If I have to choose one tale I choose Tristan's version of "Little Red Riding Hood." I have to complement Tristan as I feel he really went out on a limb. To clarify this statement, I say this because his tale is rather racey to say the least. Nonetheless, it is his desire to be so creative and inventive and to go where I would not is exactaly what I like about his tale. It is sexual and explicit and that is what is so captivating about it. I know in class we spoke about how "Little Red Riding Hood" could be seen as a girls sexual awakening, and indeed I think Tristian did an excellent job of translating that idea into his tale, which is about one woman's sexual awakening. I had to read his tale more than once in order to get the full benefit and decide what tale I thought he was framing his about. I have decided it is a displacement of "Little Red Riding Hood" and I am content with my choice. Tristan you really are surprising, I have to say that I would not have included sexuality in my tale since it was being read and interpreted by so many. But, this is comendable of you, Tristan, and I should never have considered that you would not do something unusual or go in another direction. Everyone did an excellent job. Cindy

Wednesday, November 03, 2004

Alice In wonderland

You know I just finished this book and I did not really like it. I am wondering if my brain is too locked into the acadmic stuff we are reading in Lit Crit and 219 to be able to just do escape reading. I felt the same way about Haroun. Although, after completing Haroun I did actually enjoy it. I was so excited whenI took this class to do "Alice" that it appears strange to me that I did not care for it. I just think this is so odd, that I had to write about it in my journal. I think that the language just got to hurly-burly or something, I caught myself thinking blah, blah, blah, oh well maybe I will get more out of the looking glass. Peace Out

Thursday, October 28, 2004

Finnegans Wake and Children

I recently read Finnigans Wake page 21 to three children Catie age 5, Dyllon age 8, and Sonara age 9 and this is thier interpretation:

The first paragraph interpreted by all three:
1) Catie-"Like they are burning someone else and like they fall in love and like they get married."
2) Dyllon- "Everybody is in love with each other in the town, but one guy isn't so he his holding his head high in a tower."
3) Sonora-" I think there was a bully and a person was bullied so he went into his house and prayed with his head held high up."

The second paragraph interpreted by all three:
1)Catie-" It's like to be friendship-taking them to the park, when the house is really close to the park and climbing a tree, and dressing up in a pretty dress when you go to dance."

2)Sonora-"He got hurt and his mom dipped a cloth in oil and afterwards he went to his dad's house and his cousins and his neice, the Prankquean, picked a rose and then did a prank on her great uncle."

3)Dyllon"I think its about a man who goes to his dads or uncles and this girl-she-um- was jealous of the man a put a prank on him, picked a rose and went to the dour by the tower and said why do I look alike my uncle and lit fire and cut the lawns and was very mad!"

The third paragraph interpreted by Catie and Sonora:
1)Catie"I think it is about a princess who lives in a high, high tower, and she has a pretty dress and the prince comes and gets her and falls in love."
2)Sonora" A young really pretty girl bought a really pretty costume and sold it and got alot of money off it and bought her parents a new house and she got-they got- very very rich."

It is so interesting that each child got something different out of what was read to them. I do not understand this book at all. But, maybe since it is supposed to evoke the imagination it does just that. Catie is always in princess mode. Her favorite fairy tale is Cinderella, of course, the Disney version. So I guess it is not odd that she pretty much gets a princess, pretty dress, dance, and prince out of everything that she imagines. I find this so interesting. She is really locked into the princess element of everything. This is what she plays when she plays dress-up with her friend Shay. I cannot understand this story, even with a glossary and internet help. It is great for kids though, they seem to get exactly out of it what they are supposed to.

Wednesday, October 27, 2004

Displaced fairy tale "The Poseidon Disaster"

The Poseidon DisasterShe wondered why he would gamble all he had, her, the kids, on a life of emptiness. It happened to people when they came to the Emerald Isle, drugs and alcohol. She came from a place that was similar, but yet not so saturated with the drugs and alcohol. She and the boys had a nice life before, but she dreamed it would be even better now that they were altogether and finally owned a home. But, he didn’t see it, it followed him, the icy coldness of the disease mocked all of them as he lifted his gnarled shaking hand with another glass filled with the devil’s firewater.
The rain and wind howled outside as she fed the boys their dinner; although, it seemed as if the weather was actually in the house tearing against her as she endured another night of loneliness and worry. She was reminded of how it used to be when all of them were at home in the evenings, when he was not at sea, and before he began to gamble with their lives, their futures. What a burden their lives and futures must be to him, because he laughs and carries on with the devils who beckon him continually with their call.
Everyone who comes to the Emerald Isle it seems must play a hand with them, the devils, especially, the Grand seigneur. No one bothered to warn her before they came, maybe they did, but she had not understood. She did not know the price of stay on this tormented island would be the greatest loss of all, a hand of life or death with His Majesty.
The night was long, the hour late when the knock came on the door. She did not want to worry the boys so she hurriedly ran to answer the door. She was summoned by the local police to come to the station. How could she leave the boys alone? She said she would stay at the house and wait for the call from the Coast Guard. The call eventually came; she shook so hard she could barely hear what the man was asking her. Where was he? Was he home? Had he taken the boat out? Did she know? She was thinking, but her mind was racing, her thoughts were not making any sense. The call that no one ever wants to get; could this be happening?
The man said another boat had spotted his boat in the trough (bouncing in between the waves). The crew of the other boat had tried unsuccessfully to make contact with anyone on board. The crew had circled the boat, shot off the shotgun, shot off flares, and had radioed the boat, but to no avail. The crew of the other boat had finally notified the Coast Guard. It took hours for the Coast Guard to confirm that his boat was not in another harbor somewhere else on the island. That’s when she got the call.
She told the Coast Guard he had recently returned from re-hab and was a recovering addict. However, he had "fallen off the wagon" and had begun to gamble with their lives again. She told them everything she knew and they began their official search. The boys were still asleep as two C-130’s (Coast Guard cargo planes) flew over their house headed out to the ocean. She started to cry and shook uncontrollably. She wanted someone to wake her up from her nightmare. This time he had taken their private boat out, not the fishing boat, and gambled not only with drugs and alcohol, but the Grand Master as well, the great Earth Shaker. The grand master was just that, the great Earth Shaker, and once he got a hold of you there was never any coming back for a second hand at the game.
She sat in their room on the bed dazed and in shock. She finally pulled herself together and got the boys up for school. She fed them and sent them out the door to school; they knew nothing. She began calling friends and making arrangements for people to come to the house to stay with her. She called the boy’s school and told them the bad news. She called the Coast Guard to establish a time for updates about the search. She prepared for the worst, the inevitable.
The Emerald Isle is a place where death is an acquaintance. Everyone either knows someone or has a family member who has made the acquaintance of the great Earth Shaker. He is not unknown or unfamiliar; even the school was familiar with that kind of sad news, no one escaped him.
The search lasted for three days. During that time many thoughts had crossed her mind and she made decisions in a state of blind faith and shock. Shock is such a great thing; it kept her under its spell for quite awhile. Eventually the search was called off. He could not be found neither him nor the boat. The Coast Guard found an oil drum and a life vest. The life vest was empty; so was her life. The great Earth Shaker had swallowed him.
She told the boys, she told his family, she told the town, as if she needed to, news like that traveled swiftly on a remote fishing island. She told the paper. She and his mother prepared the obituary. She and her friends, and a few of his, planned the memorial. The memorial was difficult, but she and the boys were still enveloped in the soft cushion of shock.
Shock, what a nice friend to have during the difficult task of dealing with the Earth Shaker, the Grand seignuer, His Majesty. She had escaped the devils, drugs and alcohol, and the great Earth Shaker. She did not believe in gambling, she knew no one could really ever win. Gambling is a sickness; he had gambled and had lost. He had lost his life, he had lost her, and he had lost their future. He said he loved her. He said he loved the boys. He said he loved life. But he loved them better, the drugs, the alcohol, and the sea. He said he loved the sea. He worked on the sea. He played on the sea. He trusted her, the sea. He played his last hand and he lost.
The great Earth Shaker came close to her and the boys, he swiftly passed over them, but she won, the beast did not get her or her boys, and she never dealt a hand. Gambling is a sickness.

Sunday, October 17, 2004

The Piper at the Gates of Dawn

I was very intrigued by the statement made by Dr. Sexson about the 7th chapter of W&W and the relationship to Pink Floyd, so I did some research. If you read the chapter "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" you will obviously see all the creative and descriptive language used to illuminate Toad and Ratty's late night- early morning river adventure. "Out in mistream there was a clear, narrow track that faintly reflected the sky; but wherever shadows fell on the water from bank, bush, or tree, they were as solid to all appearance as the banks themselves(pg 130-31)...At last, over the rim of the waiting earth the moon lifted with slow majesty till it swung clear of the horizon and rode off, free of moorings...and once more they began to see surfaces-meadows widespread, and quiet gardens...all radiant again...with a difference that was tremendous" (pg132).
Syd Barrett, original founding member, of Pink floyd was very much influenced by Edward Lear, Kenneth Grahme, and Lewis Carroll. Barrett was student at Cambridge as were other members of the original Pink Floyd. Barrett interests were music, painting, and religion. Waters, Mason, and Gilmore were also students, some were architect students as well. This made for an odd group, yet a highly educated, well read group, who had knowledge of many things and interests in various areas.
Saucer Full of Secrets; The Pink Floyd Odyssey is one of the best books around detailing this groups ascent to super stardom. Wind in the Willows is known as one of Barrett's favorite books and he is said to have relied heavily on the 7th chapter "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn" as a stimulus for the album, which is named the same, also Pink Floyd's 1st album. Secrets details this achievement with this statement " It is also the work on which Syd's mythic reputation is almost entirely based, and one that provided many of the blueprints for the albums that his colleagues were subsequently to make in his absence" (Secrets 65). Barrett considered this album his baby and this is evident with the reference throughout the whole album to Wind in the Willows 7th chapter. "Few songwriters of that era, for instance, would have thought to frame thier magical mystery tours in the context of a child imploring his mum to to read another chapter of his bedtime fairy tale, as Syd does in 'Matilda Mother' (Saucer 66).
In deed, I find this quote as proof of the book as a basis for this album. It was mentioned to me in class by some other students who had looked up "Piper at the Gates of Dawn" that they did not see one song or any reference to the book at all. Every song has something to do with the chapter, the lyrics do not come out and repeat Ratty and Mole, however each song and the lyrics used to derive the song all are representative of this chapter. It is how the lyrics move the listener to use their imagination and see the whole adventure of Ratty and Mole as they go up the river. The song "Flaming" has lyrics that actually remind me of the point when Ratty and Mole come upon the baby Otter "Alone in the Clouds/Lying on an eiderdown/Yippee! You can't see me/ But I can you/Lazing in the foggy dew" this takes me right to the adventure of Ratty and Mole while they are looking for the baby Otter.
In addtion, when Ratty hears the music of Pan at first the "Rat...sat up suddenly and listened with a passionate intentness... O, Mole! the beauty of it! the merry bubble and joy, the thin, clear, happy call of the distant piping! Such music I never dreamed of, and the call in it is stronger even than the music is sweet! Row on, Mole, row! For the music and call must be for us" (Willows 132). The metaphor between the actual words in the story of "Piper" and Pink Floyd as makers of music is quite ingenious of Barrett.
If one takes the time to look up the songs of "Piper and the Gates of Dawn" I do not doubt that after being in Dr. Sexson's class you will be able to make the connection between chapter 7 and the lyrics of the album. In Barrett's song "Mother Matilda" one of the verses is as follows "And fairy stories held me high on clouds of sunlight floating by/ Oh Mother, tell me more" once again reminding us how important fairy tales are and how they can be the instigation for future lyrics that make a connection between two worlds, the world of literature and the world of music, which in this case make history and keep the imagination going.Peace Out.....
P.S. It is said that if you watch "The Wizard of Oz" and turn the volume down and listen to Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon that they coincide. Curious!